21 FEBRUARY 1925, Page 2

The Postmaster-General has in.roduced a Wireless Telegraphy Signalling Bill into

the House of Commons. _This measure would gi,-e him very extended powers for the enforcement of the licensing regulations to listeners. Heavy penalties are proposed for anyone possessing a re- ceiving set without •a licence, and it is said that a small boy with a crystal set would be liable to a month's im- prisonment or a fine of £100. Most important of all, the Tight of search is given in cases *here it-is suspected that there is an unlicensed set in a house. Naturally this far- reaching Bill has aroused considerable opposition. Indeed, the penalties are very severe. But there seems- to be a general. recognition that something must be done to force people to take out licences. The Radio Association itself merely proposes that the penalties should be reduced, say, to a minimum £20 fine without the alternative of imprisonment, and that the right of search should not be granted except in the conditions at present applicable to dog and motor licences.